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Bravo My Life

At
some point, people are too attached to a certain role they’ve played. Whether
it’s a parent at home, a mother or a father; whether it’s a child in the
family, a daughter or a son; whether it’s an employer or an employee at work;
whether it’s a teacher or a student at school. However, sometime we forget,
that before we’re somebody with a certain label, we’re just ourselves; a man or
a woman. Perhaps, we’ve been living all this time while ignoring that. So, I
hope that we can have a little break to ask ourselves: are we really doing
okay? We only live once. And it’s too short to spend it trying to please
everybody else but us. And I hope that we can have a little rest to appreciate
the life itself, for the bravery that has overcome the hardships and led us to
this moment. It only takes a minute. Just take a deep breath and get ready for
another day to come. And I hope it will make us better, and keep us growing
strong.

“With
a small hope that tomorrow will be a bit better. With love, even a tough year
could be easily hung on to. Get up and take steps forward, the path you take is
the right one.” –Spring Summer Autumn Winter, Bravo My Life

A
song that brings great strength is a perfect choice for Growing Strong today. It’s a Korean classic titled “Bravo My Life”,
performed by pop rock band, Spring Summer Autumn Winter (SSAW). It was first
released on January 3rd 2002 as the lead title song for SSAW’s seventh studio album. This
song was widely popular in Korean at that time, especially among people in
their 40s and 50s, as they found the lyrics represent their emotions and give
comforts toward them. The popularity of “Bravo My Life” made it SSAW’s
signature and best song, even until nowadays.

"Bravo My Life" album cover - source: maniadb.com

Let’s
take a moment to appreciate the life we’ve had so far. Don’t wait until we turn
40 or 50, because we might not get the chance to live until then. Just now, no
matter how old we are, let’s take a moment to contemplate, as the lyrics of
“Bravo My Life” bring us to take a look at our past, present, and future, respectively,
in order to appreciate the life. “An
afternoon after sunset, behind the steps on my way home. I lived my life
poorly, and those days were filled with regrets. It wasn’t that good, but it
wasn’t as bad either. An evening with no sunset, tomorrow will be a tough day
too. Problems will always exist as long as we live in this broad world. But we
take steps forward, and the path I take is the right one.” Take the past as
lessons, make the present as chances. We’re right where we’re meant to be. For
the future, let’s growing strong. “With a
small hope that tomorrow will be a bit better. With love, even a tough year
could be easily hung on to. Get up and take steps forward, the path you take is
the right one.”

Everyone
has their own weight and hardship living this life. Everyone has their own
hopes too for their life. Our past might be not as colorful as we wanted it to
be. There might be pain and heartache and regret and disappointment. However,
we got through all of that. And here we are now. Without all of that, we might
not be here. So, “lift up your chin and
look at the sky, the birds flying across the clouds. Dust off your shoulders
and spread your beautiful wings.” For life is beautiful at it’s time, when
we embrace it with all the good and the bad within. The path may be rough now,
and the road may be full of hurdles. But this too shall pass, they say. And
they’re right. We’ve done it with our yesterdays. “Bravo my life, for the courage that have brought you this far. Bravo
my life, for the courage that have brought you living this far. Bravo my life,
for the sake of our splendid future.” For a brighter tomorrow, let’s thank
the life for hanging there so far. For the sake of being a better person in a
better life, let’s be grateful of life for what it is.

A
performance group, Ulala Session, performed “Bravo My Life” on Korean
entertainment music program, “Immortal Songs 2: Singing the Legend”, during the
2015 New Year special episode with
title “The Songs of Hope! Cheers, 2015!”.
It was served as the final performance on that episode 180. The episode was
aired on KBS television station on January 3rd 2015, and on KBS World channel
on January 23rd 2015. Ulala Session successfully brought home the trophy for
that very first episode of “Immortal Songs 2” in 2015 with their heartwarming
rendition of “Bravo My Life”.

“Lift
up your chin and look at the sky, the birds flying across the clouds. Dust off
your shoulders and spread your beautiful wings.” –Spring Summer Autumn
Winter, Bravo My Life